A Los Angeles City Council member embroiled in a scandal over racist remarks and an activist fought at a Friday night holiday event.

The activist and Kevin de Le�n got into an altercation at a toy giveaway and holiday tree lighting at Lincoln Park, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Earlier on Friday, de Le�n attended his first City Council meeting in nearly two months following a scandal that erupted after a recording surfaced in October of former council President Nury Martinez, outgoing Councilman Gil Cedillo, de Le�n and a labor union leader participating in a closed-door meeting in which racist language was used to mock colleagues while the participants schemed to protect Latino political strength in council districts.

Martinez resigned. Cedillo lost a June election and his last day in office is Monday. De Le�n has apologized and said he has no plans to resign.

De Le�n said in a statement to the newspaper that he was assaulted Friday night, while activists said the council member was the aggressor.

The Times reported two local activist organizations, RootsAction and J-TOWN Action and Solidarity, posted a video on Twitter showing a portion of the incident between De Le�n and a man identified as Jason Reedy, a People�s City Council organizer.

De Le�n�s office said Reedy and other activists were at fault. De Le�n spokesperson Pete Brown said the council member was head-butted by Reedy, a member of his staff was elbowed in the face and a volunteer was punched in the arm, the Times reported.

De Le�n�s statement to the Times said they were �violently and physically assaulted by self-proclaimed activists at a community holiday event to the dismay of a multitude of families and children who were there to celebrate a Christmas tree lighting and to receive toys and food.�

�The escalating rhetoric is hitting a fever pitch, transcending from verbal threats into actual acts of violence and must end before more serious harm or loss of life occurs,� the statement said. �Violence is not free speech and has no place in politics or democracy.�

Shakeer Rahman, an attorney representing Reedy, called de Le�n �a disgrace� in a statement to the Times Friday night.

�Video footage clearly shows him and his supporters initiating this assault while Mr. Reedy stands prone,� Rahman said. �Not only has Kevin de Le�n lost all political legitimacy, his claims that he was the one attacked here simply underscores how he�s lost touch with reality.�

(AP)